DirectX 6 Set For Holidays

Electronic News, August 17, 1998

Redmond, Wash.--DirectX 6.0 (DX6) is here and, for game content providers and graphics board and accelerator companies, it's appearance is just in time. Microsoft rolled out the DirectX 6.0 set of application programming interfaces (APIs) in time for these content providers and graphics companies to utilize the features in games for the 1998 holiday season.

The holiday season is regarded in the gaming and graphics industry as the most important time to make advancements in technology and performance as well as make a name for small game providers. It is also the biggest selling season of the year.

DirectX is the primary driver in the PC market for both graphics and audio APIs. The DX6 set of APIs provide a single development platform that supports all consumer graphics, audio, and input devices as well as providing faster performance, increased stability and compatibility with multimedia and gaming hardware add-ons. DirectX also is claimed to reduce development time by giving designers access to specialized hardware features without their having to write hardware-specific code.

The set of APIs is integrated into Microsoft Windows 98 and will be a part of Windows NT 5.0 operating system, Microsoft said. In addition, developers using DX6 are able to develop content for Windows 95, 98 and NT 5.0 at the same time because DX6 comes in the form of a single set of APIs across all three platforms. This will eliminate compatibility issues while making it easier to develop for multiple operating system platforms, Microsoft said.

A majority of the graphics accelerator vendors already support DX6 in their latest generation of devices because they had prior knowledge about which APIs would be integrated into the software set. Other graphics engines will more than likely require a software upgrade. DX6 is available at Microsoft's web site (www.microsoft.com) for download and likely at most graphics vendors and content developers sites in the near future as well.

"The installed base of 3-D enabled computers will exceed 100 million by year-end. DirectX 6.0 is a significant development that will enable the 3-D display capabilities and improve performance of those computers," said Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Associates (JPA), a market research firm based in Tiburon, Calif. "This type of improvement is what consumers and suppliers have been asking for. By increasing the power and multimedia capability, the market will be opened up, enabling suppliers to reach the broadest audience of consumers. That translates into a win-win situation for the industry and its customers."

In addition to improvements to the graphics APIs resulting in faster performance and higher quality in the Direct3D API, the audio portion of DX6 has also been enhanced with the addition of the DirectMusic API as well as with better MIDI sequencing, a low overhead synthesizer, and interactive music composition software. u